Better than the Angels

From A Brief Word of Exhortation, Volume 1:

Heb. 1:4-14

In the rest of chapter 1, the writer of Hebrews goes on to prove his point that the Son, Jesus, is better than the angels.

The writer of Hebrews has in mind here the Jewish tra­di­tion that the old covenant was mediated by the angels, that is, the old covenant was given by God to the angels who then gave it to Moses. Paul refers to this tradition in Gal. 3:19. We must remember that the Jewish audience to whom this Epistle was addressed was considering abandoning Christianity and returning to Judaism, of abandoning the new covenant and re­turning to the old covenant. The writer of Hebrews will event­ually encourage his Jewish audience to remain in the new covenant because the new covenant is better than the old covenant. One way that the new is better than the old is that the new was mediated by Jesus whereas the old was mediated by the angels, and Jesus is better than the angels.

The writer proves his point by citing the Scriptures. I said before that we do not know who the writer of He­brews was because, apparently, we do not need to know who he was. The writer does not base the au­thor­i­ty of his Epistle, the truth of this Epistle, on his own au­thority. He does not say, for ex­ample, “I am an apostle, so you should believe what I am tell­ing you.” Nor does he take the stand of a prophet. He does not say that God revealed these truths to him, so his read­ers should believe it. Instead, he cites the Old Tes­ta­ment, the au­thor­ity of which his Jewish audience already accepts. The authoritative Old Testament proves that the Son, Jesus, is better than the angels.

But some of the things he says in here raise three im­port­ant questions. Since we Christians believe there is only one true God, how can God call the Son “God” in verse 8?

Second, if the Son is God and, therefore, has ex­isted from eternity, why does God the Father say in verse 5, “Today, I have be­gotten you”? If the Son has been begotten, does that not im­ply that he had a be­gin­ning like the rest of us do?

Third, if the Son is God and, therefore, has existed from e­ternity, why is he called the firstborn in verse 6?

We will answer the first question in this Lesson.

The Scriptures make it abundantly clear that there is only one true God. For example, in Isaiah 43:10-11, God says to Israel through the prophet Isaiah,

“You are My witnesses,” says the LORD,

“And My servant whom I have chosen,

That you may know and believe Me,

And understand that I am He.

Before Me there was no God formed,

Nor shall there be after Me.

I, even I, am the LORD,

And besides Me there is no savior.”

The Scriptures also make it abundantly clear that the Father is the one true God. For example, in 1 Cor. 8:4-6, Paul states, “Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.”

Yet, the Scriptures also declare that the Holy Spirit is God. For example, Paul says in 2 Cor. 3:17, “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is,there isliberty.” And, as we saw here in Heb. 1:8, God the Father calls the Son “God.” The preeminent verse that declares the deity of Jesus Christ is John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

How do we reconcile these Scriptures? How do we re­con­cile the Scriptures that declare that there is only one God with the Scriptures that declare that the Fath­er, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are each God?

The Church has always reconciled these Scriptures with the doctrine of the Trinity. The word “trinity” is a combination of the words, “tri” and “unity.” Hence, it means “three in one.” It is true that nowhere in the Scrip­tures do we find a passage that explains the doc­trine of the Trinity. This doctrine, like many of the doctrines of the Church, is based on everything the Scrip­tures have to say about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is also true that we do not find the word “Trinity” in the Scriptures. That is just our word for the doctrine.

The doctrine of the Trinity states that there is only one true God in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three persons are equal in na­ture, power, and eternity. Each person is fully God, yet they are united in such a way that there is only one God.

This doctrine is admittedly a difficult one to un­der­stand, but we can understand it better if we recognize the difference be­tween nature and person. “Nature” means kind or sort. For ex­ample, God created all of the ani­mals, each “according to its kind” (Gen. 1:25). Spe­cif­ically, nature means “the particular com­bination of qualities belonging to a person, animal, thing, or class by birth, origin, or constitution; native or inherent char­acter.” For example, human nature is the set of char­ac­teristics that are common to humans. Human na­ture is what makes us human. Horse nature is what makes horses, horses. Dog nature is what makes dogs, dogs. The divine nature is what makes God, God.

“Person” refers to the individual who is distinct from every­one else. All of us have the human nature in com­mon, but each of us is a distinctive person.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit each have the divine nature. This is why each of them is called God. This is also why they are united as one God, be­cause they share this divine nature.

However, each one is a distinctive person. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father. The Scriptures teach that each one is distinct from the other and have dis­tinct roles. For example, we are taught to pray to the Father, not the Son or the Holy Spirit. The Son, not the Father or the Holy Spirit, died on the cross. There are pas­sages in the Scriptures in which all three persons appear. For example, when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist (Matt. 3:16-17), Jesus, the Son, was in the river, the Holy Spirit descended upon him, and the Father spoke from heaven. Jesus also spoke of the three persons as distinct from each other. For example, at the Last Supper, Jesus said to the disciples, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17). Here the Son asks the Father to send the Spirit. Together they are one God, yet they are three distinct persons.

God the Father, therefore, calls the Son “God” because the Son also has the divine nature. This is one reason why the Son is better than the angels, for they have the angelic nature but not the divine nature.